Science Knowledge and Skills

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Scientific Processes
(Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills)	Internet Resources
(1) The student conducts classroom and field investigations following home and school safety procedures.
(A) demonstrate safe practices during classroom and field investigations	Create A Safe, Efficient, Inquiry-Based Science Classroom - a 23 slide show written for teachers Practicing Safe Science in the Classroom: The Eyes Have It - page 4 includes instructions for a simulated "acid in the eye" accident Safe Science - recommendations to parents, but they make sense for classroom teachers also Science Safety Manual - a publication for Maryland Public Schools
(B) learn how to use and conserve resources and dispose of materials	Ask the Answer Worm! - It’s a dirty job but someone has to do it - S.K.Worm, the official annelid, or worm, of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service answers students questions about soil. Dr. E's Energy Lab - explore variouys types of renewable energy Environmental Kids Page - from the Environmental Protection Agency Visit Recycle City (formerly known as Dumptown) Experiment with Rocks and Soils by using an interactive BBC site How bad is the air you breathe? Learn how the air becomes dirty. (a quiz is included) Learn about pesticides. Are they good? What are they used for? (a quiz is included) Make Waves: How Kids Can Protect the Earth, One Ripple at a Time - from the NRDC (Natural Resources Defense Council) Recycling - from the Energy Kid's page Saving Water - Ideas for children to help conserve water. What is a hazardous waste? How does garbage effect you? (a quiz is included) Take a test about how you use water! Twenty five questions that will help you be a better user of water. The Green Squad: Kids Taking Action for Greener, Healthier Schools - take a tour of a school and spot various problem areas, then go to the library for many fact sheets Water conservation in your home
(2) The student develops abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry in the field and the classroom.
(A) ask questions about organisms, objects, and events	Reasoning in Science - a basic introduction to the scientific method from Biology4Kids "just about everything starts with a question"
(B) plan and conduct simple descriptive investigations	Construct a paper sundial - from Canon's Bubble Jet Printer Creative Park Sundials: Observing and Using Shadows - Students build sundials and observe changes in shadows over the course of one or more days. Sunrise Sunset - [this link opens on a new page] Students learn about the apparent movement of the sun across the day sky. Students then learn to relate time of day to the location of the sun. (Author - Sandi King) What Makes Shadows? Students learn about shadows as they observe and draw the shadow of a classmate. In the extension activity, students observe and discuss shadows changing over time.
(C) compare results of investigations with what students and scientists know about the world	Observe images of different climate zones using an interactive map
(D) gather information using simple equipment and tools to extend the senses	Forces and Movement - give the truck various pushes to see how the truck moves Magnets and Springs - use this interactive BBC site to experiment with which objects are attracted to a magnet, then take a quiz. Pushes and Pulls - use a hard or soft push or pull to see how the toy horse moves
(E) construct reasonable explanations and draw conclusions using information and prior knowledge
(F) communicate explanations about investigations
(3) The student knows that information and critical thinking are used in making decisions.
(A) make decisions using information
(B) discuss and justify the merits of decisions
(C) explain a problem in his/her own words and identify a task and solution related to the problem
(4) The student uses age-appropriate tools and models to verify that organisms and objects and parts of organisms and objects can be observed, described, and measured.
(A) collect information using tools including rulers, meter sticks, measuring cups, clocks, hand lenses, computers, thermometers, and balances	Be a Scientist - [this link opens on a new page] Students estimate temperatures using a Celsius thermometer. (Author - Sandi King) Hot Stuff - [this link opens on a new page] Students estimate temperatures using a Fahrenheit thermometer. (Author - Sandi King) Thermometer - asks students to compare the temperature on two days, and it instructs them on the concepts of minus quantities as the difference between two things
(B) measure and compare organisms and objects and parts of organisms and objects, using standard and non-standard units	The Ruler Game - Learn To Read A Ruler (inches only - increments from inches to sixteenths) Measure it - practice using a ruler - inches and centimeters Centimeters - To Nearest Whole Number (from FunBrain) Centimeters - To Half Centimeter (from FunBrain) Inches - To Nearest Whole Number (from FunBrain) Inches - To Quarter Inch (from FunBrain) Teaching Measures – Choose from three modules; length, mass, and capacity. Each category offers several activities for your large screen display as well as supporting worksheets. Worksheet Generator - (inches only) Print your own worksheets to let your students practice reading a ruler.

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Science Concepts
(5) The student knows that organisms, objects, and events have properties and patterns.
(A) classify and sequence organisms, objects, and events based on properties and patterns	Animal Behaviour Flashcards - thirty-three animal cards in the eleven categories Grouping and Changing Materials - look at objects, decide what they are made of and drag them into the correct box
(B) identify, predict, replicate, and create patterns including those seen in charts, graphs, and numbers	Bar Chart - students create a bar chart showing quantities or percentages by labeling columns and clicking on values Data Picking - click on each student to collect data and then select a chart or graph that matches the data Interpreting Data Activity - click on each child to collect information, total the tally marks and create a chart Interpreting Data - an index of topics including bar and pie charts, pictograms and line graphs Interpreting Data Quiz - to be used following the above set of pages Pie Chart – Explore percentages and fractions using pie charts
(6) The student knows that systems have parts and are composed of organisms and objects.
(A) manipulate, predict, and identify parts that, when separated from the whole, may result in the part or the whole not working, such as flashlights without batteries and plants without leaves
(B) manipulate, predict, and identify parts that, when put together, can do things they cannot do by themselves, such as a guitar and guitar strings
(C) observe and record the functions of plant parts	Plant Parts - Match the drawing with the name and build a salad
(D) observe and record the functions of animal parts	Animal Body Parts Flashcards - forty-five animal body parts cards in fifteen categories Animal Body Parts Flashcards - (a second source of cards to print) Animal Body Parts Lesson Plan - card games and worksheet activities, includes sheets to print
(7) The student knows that many types of change occur.
(A) observe, measure, record, analyze, predict, and illustrate changes in size, mass, temperature, color, position, quantity, sound, and movement	Be a Scientist - [this link opens on a new page] Students estimate temperatures using a Celsius thermometer. (Author - Sandi King) Hot Stuff - [this link opens on a new page] Students estimate temperatures using a Fahrenheit thermometer. (Author - Sandi King) Thermometer - asks students to compare the temperature on two days, and it instructs them on the concepts of minus quantities as the difference between two things
(B) identify, predict, and test uses of heat to cause change such as melting and evaporation	Keeping Warm - use this BBC interactive to investigate how insulation effects cooling rates Matter in the Science Lab - Select Matter in the list of labs. The illustration names the physical state of objects. Next, click on Water Changes State near the top of the matter window. Hold down the blue button to lower the temperature of water to freezing, then hold down the red button till water boils. Click on the book in the bottom left corner to read about matter. Solids and Liquids - investigate the effect of heat on a substance
(C) demonstrate a change in the motion of an object by giving the object a push or a pull	Forces and Movement - give the truck various pushes to see how the truck moves Pushes and Pulls - use a hard or soft push or pull to see how the toy horse moves
(D) observe, measure, and record changes in weather, the night sky, and seasons	As the Earth Turns - [this link opens on a new page] Students learn that day and night are caused by the rotation of the Earth. (Author - Sandi King) Control the Weather - By clicking on different buttons, you decide what the weather will be that day. Eye on the Sky - the scientist (your student) is asked to enter weather observations. Based on the entries, a summary of conditions is compiled Make Your Own Weather Station - You can become an amateur meteorologist by building your own weather station and keeping a record of your measurements. Use this as a class project. The Night Sky Live - best as a whole class activity - click on an asterisk on the map to see the night sky live from someplace around the world. Seasonal Changes Lesson Plans From Scholastic - The activities in this theme unit take advantage of opportunities for students to practice observation and description skills, as well as extending students' experience into other curricular areas, such as language arts and art. Seasons - this story will read itself to you. After students are familiar with the story, you can use a version that asks your students to do the reading. Weather in the Science Lab - Select Weather in the list of labs. The illustration shows a water cycle. Click on The Weather Maker near the top of the weather window. Set temperature of two air masses and the relative humidity. Then see what weather develops. Click on the book in the bottom left corner to read about weather.
(8) The student distinguishes between living organisms and nonliving objects.
(A) identify characteristics of living organisms	Living and Nonliving - A lesson plan that is five activities in one inquiry Living vs Non-Living Quiz - This quiz is based on the information about the six characteristics of living things. For each of the following determine if it is a living or a non-living organism. Clicking on the answer allows you to check your answers. Good luck! Living or Non-Living? - use this BBC quiz to classify things as animal or non living Find the Living things in this interactive quiz from the BBC Worksheet for classifying living and non living things
(B) identify characteristics of nonliving objects
(9) The student knows that living organisms have basic needs.
(A) identify the external characteristics of different kinds of plants and animals that allow their needs to be met	Critter Craze - [this link opens on a new page] This lesson introduces the concepts of basic needs, grouping, and habitats. (Author - Laurie Ayers) Health and Growth - keep Ben healthy by providing him with what he needs Helping Plants Grow Well - can you make the plant grow to its full height? Match Animals to their Habitat - select one of the twelve habitats at Animal Universe and choose animals that live in that habitat (select Maybe Later on the registration screen)
(B) compare and give examples of the ways living organisms depend on each other and on their environments
(10) The student knows that the natural world includes rocks, soil, water, and gases of the atmosphere.
(A) describe and illustrate the water cycle	Create a model of the water cycle Follow a drop through the water cycle - water science for schools from USGS How You Can Make a Model of the Water Cycle - print this to give to your students Water Cycle - US Geological Survey's Water Cycle - one of the most complete explanation of the cycle Water Cycle - a slide show by Soo Park, Alex Reynolds, Kate Schmidt, Connie Woo, and Christine Zackrison Water Cycle Water Cycle Animation - Observe a raindrop traveling through various paths of the water cycle. In this visualization, the blue raindrop shows where water is. The red arrows show the processes that could move it to another place. Water Cycle Lesson Plan - five activities in one Water Science - US Geological Survey's (USGS) Water Science for Schools web site! They offer information on many aspects of water, along with pictures, data, maps, and an interactive center where you can give opinions and test your water knowledge. The Watershed Game - Many things happen in a watershed that affect the quality of the water we rely upon . Examine the issues in each area of the watershed, then see the impacts of your choices. Water Wizard quizzes - Do you have a fountain of knowledge when it comes to water? Well, dive right in and test your knowledge of water with these Water Wizard quizzes. Weather in the Science Lab - Select Weather in the list of labs. The illustration shows a water cycle. Move your cursor around the image for more information. Click on The Weather Maker near the top of the weather window. Set the temperature of two air masses and the relative humidity, and then see what weather develops. Click on the book in the bottom left corner to read about weather.
(B) identify uses of natural resources	Dr. E's Energy Lab - explore variouys types of renewable energy Natural Resources - Can We Use Them Forever?

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